Criminal justice reporter

An EMT seriously injured Saturday when her ambulance wrecked while responding to a call in Oconee County now faces a long recovery.

Kayla Smith had surgery to repair extensive leg and arm injuries following the wreck and underwent additional surgery on Monday, according to Don Cargile, community relations director for National EMS.

Smith is a single mother with three young children. She is expected to be out of work for at least six months as she recovers.

Supporters have set up a gofundme.com account for anyone wishing to help. The page, http://www.gofundme.com/9r9b04, had raised more than $9,500 by Monday afternoon on the way to reaching a fundraising goal of $20,000.

Other supporters set up an account on teespring.com, which sells T-shirts as a means to help those in need. The T-shirt supporting Smith’s cause reads, “EMS: More than friends and coworkers ... we are family.” All proceeds from the T-shirt sales will be directly donated to Smith and her family, according to the website found at http://teespring.com/EMSfamily.

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